


Sunnydale Slaughterers vs. Ventura County Vamps

by GraceFinePairingsPodcast



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Alternate Universe - Roller Derby, F/F, Fine Pairings Podcast, Genderbending, Genderswap, Roller Derby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29090970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraceFinePairingsPodcast/pseuds/GraceFinePairingsPodcast
Summary: More Roller Derby than quality Buffy references but here we are...
Relationships: Angel/Buffy Summers
Kudos: 3





	Sunnydale Slaughterers vs. Ventura County Vamps

**Author's Note:**

> For my friend Frankie

Buffy strolled onto the dusty and dry floor of the rink, feeling the discrepancy between the pictures of hockey players in their winter gear on the walls and the mid-July heat of Southern California. She imagined the cold that could be radiating off the ice, all too aware of the sticky skin that would be colliding with hers in a matter of a couple hours. Despite being exactly on time, she spotted Willow, already in her team jersey, standing against the check-in desk and talking to their Coach, Be Giles. Aside from the name not being in any way intimidating and barely even a pun, everyone just called him Giles. 

“And based on their archives it sounds like our advantage could be their lack of versatility…” Willow continued on as Buffy caught Giles’ attention.  
“Yes, thank you Willow. Buffy, good to see you. Locker room is down this hall and to the left.”

“Thanks Giles, Whomp! Are you excited?” Buffy addressed her best friend and teammate. Originally choosing Weeping Willow, Buffy begged her to change it to something less sad. Reaping Willow? Last Willow and Testament? She had eventually suggested the Harry Potter reference and the name stuck. Whomp turned out to be an excellent name to shout across a track or to accompany a celebratory punch on the arm.

“Hey Buff.” Willow said, a mixture of nerves and excitement. They fell into step with each other as they headed to the locker room, bags rolling behind them with helmets and skates bouncing along in the pockets. “I spent last night going over old footage, I think I want to block?” She had meant to say this as a declarative statement, but her upward inflection betrayed her.

“Whomp, you are jammer material. You know the rules, you’ve been practicing like crazy, and you’re...I don’t know, slippery.”

“I don’t know Buffy… sometimes when I try to jam I forget everything and freeze, or go out of bounds, or my hands fly up and I elbow someone in the…”

“Everyone has to have a first bout. You’re amazing, but don’t show your nerves around the other team, they’ll single out the weak link just like we should be doing to them.”

Willow eyed the opposing locker room as they found the end of the hall, one of the women laughed heartily from inside, just out of sight. Another woman was lingering in the doorway, talking to her teammate inside. The back of her jersey said “Angel Dust.” A name Buffy didn’t recognize, which wasn’t a surprise. The Sunnydale Slaughterers had yet to play many teams at all, least of all the notorious Ventura County Vamps. The woman was tall and built, her strong arm leaning her high against the painted brick wall. Buffy eyed her figure before stepping into her own locker room, equally intimidated by her athleticism and taken by the intrusive thought of this woman and her strong arms pinning her against a locker after the bout. She quickly averted her eyes as the woman’s face came into view, framed by mid-length brown hair and eyes that seemed to hide a secret.

Later, Buffy focused as her Coach attempted to get the hottub’s attention in anticipation of the next jam. 

“DiShanko needs a break after that two minute jam, Willow, can you take the panty?” Giles glanced at her. Willow was wide eyed, and threw a look at Buffy, who gave her an almost imperceptible nod of encouragement.

“Yeah...ok.” Willow answered.

“Excellent. Buffy, keep to the brace, everyone else, keep your butts on the jammer. And for God’s sake communicate. We can’t block the jammer if we don’t know where they are.”

“We can start at the back, let Whomp slip by and give her some room to get around their tripod.” Buffy added, giving the instructions to Willow directly, who was getting distracted watching the current jammer’s difficulty in getting through for her scoring pass.

“Right, remember to get low, using the opposing jammers force to…” but Giles continuous advice was interrupted by three short spurts of whistles, signaling that the Vamps had called off the jam. “Ah, right!” Giles said, discombobulated as the group strode to take the jam line. “Communicate!” He yelled after them. 

Buffy took her position as the pivot, bracing the two butts. Willow was set in a low stance, attempting to look prepared and stable. The Vamps jammer had taken her place near the center, swaying back and forth with darting eyes so as not to commit to a single path down the track. While the size of a more typical jammer, there was no mistaking her compact strength, her legs and arms toned, with high cheekbones and a white-blonde tuft of hair sticking out of one side of her helmet. The Vamps' blockers had chosen to position themselves at the front. 

“Lucky for us.” Buffy thought. 

The starting whistle blew and before Willow could take a full stride, Buffy felt someone else flush against her back, and two opposing blockers on the sides of either of hers. Not only was Willow trapped, but the entire tripod was enclosed with the opposing team, unable to move. 

“What the hell?” Cordelia exclaimed in a grunt, trying to hip bump her opponent off the track.

Buffy, still pinned, glanced behind her. Only to see the determined face of Angel, who was keeping a watchful eye on her teammates. 

“Sorry babe.” She smirked, giving the quickest of glances to Buffy before looking back up to keep an eye on Willow. She adjusted to match Willow’s movements ever so slightly, keeping fully body contact with the blonde, who was having difficulty figuring out what to do. Along with being distracted by the woman’s body against hers, she was quite trapped. 

“Split up!” Buffy shouted, dropping her arms and focusing solely on Angel. Her fellow blockers followed suit, attempting to break up the other teams tripod. Buffy turned to meet her cocky opponent face-to-face. Using the woman’s height against her, she ducked low, throwing a shoulder into the other woman’s sternum. 

“Ouf.” She let out a small grunt, tripping back slightly. “You’re tougher than you look Blondie.” Angel winked and ducked past Buffy, rejoining her teammates as the brace just as the blonde jammer weaved around Cordelia’s hips, scoring four more points and calling off the jam. 

The game was a massacre in Buffy’s eyes, 57 points to the Vamps 212. Buffy, scoffed, tossing her helmet down into her bag. The score shouldn’t have been a surprise, the Vamps were more established, had been playing together longer, had a more experienced coach. Buffy decided to put on a sportsmanlike face as Willow glided into the locker room, exhausted but glowing. 

“Whomp!” Buffy exclaimed, shooting up from the bench and hugging Willow, who was taller than her now that Buffy was without her skates. “Congrats on your first bout! Do you feel great? You scored points!”

“I know.” Willow said, smiling wide. “I think we put up a good fight.”

“We did.” Buffy agreed, still silently wishing she could have been more effective on the track, reducing their point differential to at least below 100. “I’ll be right back, gotta refill.” She gestured at the empty water bottle in her hand, hoping to have a moment to sulk before rallying for the rest of the team.

As she padded down the hallway in her socks, knee pads still on, and eyes studying the floor, she saw a figure in front of her. She jerked her head up, hoping she wasn’t about to run into them.

“Good game.” The woman said, hair tousled with sweat, her eyeliner smudged and creating an alluring smoky eye that seemed far too convenient to be real. Buffy gasped, almost inaudibly, unsure of how to address Angel.

“Thanks, you guys too...you’re really good.”

“For a new team you guys did a great job. Sorry we couldn’t take it easier on you.” She grinned, glancing down at the floor, slightly embarrassed. “But, we have to be ready for champs. Go full out every time, you know.”

“Totally.” Buffy agreed. “You heading to the after party?” 

“Local dive? Always. They have surprisingly good dance music. How about I buy you a beer? If you’re a beer girl.”

“I don’t want a consolation prize.” Buffy teased. Unconsciously playing with the end of her ponytail. 

“You can get the second round for blowing up my chest.” With that, Angel brushed passed Buffy, giving her a playful bump on the hip that knocked Buffy more off balance than it should have. She could hear Angel giggle as she walked away. Buffy tried to suppress a look over her shoulder as the woman strode confidently off to collect her things. As she filled her water bottle, she couldn't help but think of the woman’s body pressed up against hers earlier in the game, and the idea of doing it again on the dance floor later that night.


End file.
